This summer, the East Side Freedom Library is celebrating its second anniversary. Our roots lie in the vision that Dave Roe and Rudy Perpich had in the 1990s of a Labor History Center to tell the stories of the state’s workers and their labor movement, and our branches grow far and wide, reaching out to […]

Public events at the East Side Freedom Library this month include a discussion of German immigrants’ contribution to the the local labor movement, as well as a free Labor Movie Night screening. The independent, non-profit library is located at 1105 Greenbrier St. in St. Paul. “The German Contribution to St. Paul’s Labor History” As part […]

Since the 99-year-old Carnegie library at Greenbrier and Jessamine reopened as the East Side Freedom Library last year, it’s hosted concerts and film screenings, lectures and panel discussions, an economics workshop and a Juneteenth celebration. The independent, nonprofit library is becoming the center of grassroots community activity, history and storytelling that East Siders Peter Rachleff […]

Monday, Sept. 1, will mark the 120th celebration of Labor Day as a legal, national holiday. The holiday had a turbulent, complicated beginning. Understanding more about this can help us rethink the significance of this holiday today. American labor in 1894 was a volatile force. The industrial revolution had radically transformed work, replacing skilled labor […]

A new, independent library is seeking to celebrate and preserve the heritage of St. Paul’s East Side – its working-class roots, its rich diversity and its fighting spirit. But first, organizers must preserve and restore a 98-year-old architectural landmark, from the roof to the ground floor. The East Side Freedom Library is the new name […]